Having become a snowboard-equipment-philiac in the last 6 months, after not knowing how to change my binding angles, I discovered that it was time for some new boots. I have been riding 32-Prions for about 4 years, with over a hundred days on them so they are pretty spent,(very soft, packed out, boot shredding). Having really liked these boots before they got thrashed, I figured I'd incur a little brand loyalty and give out the new Lashed a try first.

From the moment of tightening them on in the store, I was amazed at how much better the fit was when compared with my old boots. One of the big issues I ended up having with the Prions was that the inner Boa Lacing would get tight on your leg/calf, but there was really nothing to lock your heal into place. Therefor the boots would get nice and tight around the arch of my foot, but would leave the heal and toes swimming, causing me to essentially pivot my foot back and forth like a see-saw.

On the Lashed, instead of having the inner-Boa on the calf, it's located right where your foot transitions to your leg. The new location forces your heel into place, and locks it there. Making sure your heel doesn't swim is pretty huge, so this was a big design upgrade. The other big thing I noticed with the fit was that the foot-laces had way more play as far as getting the boot tighter on the front of your foot. I was a little worried getting the laces as tight as they were would cause too much tension stress on the lacers and cause them to rip, but they seem fine so far and appear to be pretty flexible.

Picking up these boots, you notice how light they are. Once you put them on and walk around, you notice it even more. I notice a huge difference in how swift I can walk when wearing clunky rain boots compared with slippers, so as soon as I started walking around they felt less like clunky snowboard boots and more like regular boots due to the weight. Once disadvantage I do notice with the newer lighter boots, is that they likely won't last as long compared with some of the older clunkers. My Prions are still in relatively good condition despite being abused for such a long time, where I kinda doubt you could get the same amount of life out of the Lashed. So going into the investment you have to note your trading maybe a longer lasting boot for a higher-performance boot.

Right off the chairlift, I had to adjust my riding. While these aren't hard-boots by any means, they are way stiffer then my worn out Prions. As I soon noticed, this was a very good thing, because due to the stiffness I had way more control of the board, especially for sticking big consistent turns. Also due to the stiffness, I noticed I had a smoother ride when hitting bumps, chunks, and monks, making the board more stable and less likely to kick out of on me. On the groomers, I had more confidence to hall-ass and not worry about every little chunk on the run. Since it was foggier then shit however, and we got about 4"in of new, I rode in the trees most of the day.

Now the new snow was pretty wet, and very wind blown, so you had to navigate your lines even more to avoid flying off wind-cornices into a tree. It took a little adjusting to the new stiffness, but I found I had a little more control making quick skid-turns when riding through trees, roots and wind moguls in close quarters. The NS Evo is a board that likes to fly off things, rather then cut through things, so I felt the extra bit of dampening helped keep my board from flying all over the place.

I'm not much of a park rider yet, but I can do butters and some flatland tricks. I think if your a jib-king you would have to break these boots in pretty good before they felt soft enough for you, but I had no problems flexing, popping and spinning the board.

Conclusion: These are excellent boots for the boarder who likes to really do everything. The tightening system does things right to keep your foot where it's supposed to go, has a comfortable interior that's heat-moldable, and is light enough to really notice the difference. Since this boot is middle of the run for flexiness, I think a dedicated Jibber might think these are too stiff, (you can always ride them until they are softer) and the dedicated mega-speed groomer guy might think they aren't stiff enough. If you find yourself hitting everything on the mountain however, I don't think you can go wrong with the Lashed.

Solid, my man. Great review. I like that you kept it pretty straight forward and close to the topic at hand. I just bought a pair of these and cannot wait to wear them around my apartment like a retard haha. I'll be sure to take your advice and break them in. Also, thanks for the info. I did not know they were mold-able to your foot!!! That's legit. How are the soles on them? Do they provide the right amount of support? Some people recommend getting custom molded souls for boots. Whats your take?